Every morning, we compile
the
links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline.
Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
Santana was injured when right fielder Shin-Soo Choo fired a strike and he blocked the plate with his leg as Ryan Kalish came sliding in hard. He remained on the ground for several minutes before being taken off on a stretch. The crowd gave him a nice ovation.
"He's a good player. I feel so bad," Choo said.
Youkilis left the game with a jammed right thumb. He lined out to short to end the first, grabbed his hand in pain, but stayed in the game until the top of the third.
"He's pretty sore," said Francona, adding that Youkilis will have an MRI exam on Tuesday morning. "He's had a bone a bruise in that area. It swelled up quickly."
ESPNBoston | Sox lack magic in ninth, fall to Indians
The Sox lost, Lackey was lousy, etc.
The big news was that another Sox star went down -- this time Youk with a jammed thumb -- and probably more importantly, Indians uberprospect Carlos Santana did a Shaun Livingston to his knee.
Everybody must feel bad -- Tim Bogar for sending the runner, Kalish for barreling through his leg, maybe even Choo for throwing a perfect strike. Obviously it's chance, but you hate to see it.
It was hard to judge how bad Youk's injury was. Bad enough to pull him from the game, obviously, but it wasn't immediately clear whether he'd have to be out. You'd think with Mike Lowell sitting and waiting to play this might be a shot to activate him, but we've already called up such luminaries as Daniel Nava, Eric Patterson, Bill Hall, and Darnell MacDonald over chancing having Lowell on the roster, so I'm guessing he will continue to sit. Lowell does seem to think that "tomorrow should be a good day", and as Gordon Edes says, a resolution appears to be at hand.
On page 2, let's look to the future with Salty's first game with the PawSox.
Looking relaxed as he sat in the PawSox dugout prior to his first game with his new team Monday at McCoy Stadium, the 25-year-old catcher said he is excited and ready for a fresh start.
“I’m 100 percent and ready to go,” said Saltalamacchia, who was immediately optioned to Pawtucket after the Sox obtained him in a trade with Texas for first baseman Christopher McGuiness, right-handed pitcher Roman Mendez, a player to be named later and cash considerations.
“Right now I feel great. Obviously I dealt with a lot of stuff at the beginning of the season. I feel confident that I beat it, and I’m ready to go. These past four months I’ve been playing well, no issues, so I hope to continue to do that.”
Saltalamacchia – whose last name, incidentally, is the longest in major-league history — was diagnosed last year as having Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, in which one of his ribs was impinging on a nerve, which was in turn causing pain and numbness in his right shoulder. He underwent surgery last September and had one of the ribs on his right side removed.
ProJo | Saltalamacchia happy to get fresh start
Salty went 0-4 with a BB and a run scored in his first PawSox appearance last night. He hit third in the lineup and was the catcher for the shutout, so he must not be completely useless on defense.
I'm excited about this guy. We didn't have a lot of exciting options at catcher in the system -- Luis Exposito in Portland being the best -- and I think it was a great buy-low for Theo to add this guy for next to nothing while he's recovering from injury.
Plus, he gets to see how the pros do it in our system. Ellsbury's back with the PawSox today; I'm sure his competitiveness and hard work will rub off on Jarrod.
ESPNBoston | Sox lack magic in ninth, fall to Indians | Lowell suggests resolution is at hand | Youkilis jams thumb, will have MRI Tuesday | Varitek, on mend, hits in cage | Globe | Bad tidings | Kalish's night turns on collision | Cameron goes back on the disabled list | Situation is critical | Herald | Sox recap: Lackey falls apart in loss to tribe | Youkilis caught in a jam | Lackey loses control | ProJo | Saltalamacchia happy to get fresh start
